On January 31, 2025, Omar Carrillo Tinajero stepped into the position of executive director at the Center for Community Investment (CCI) and Founding Executive Director Robin Hacke transitioned to a senior fellow role. Starting in 2017 with his leadership of the Connect Capital Initiative and continuing as director of programs, Carrillo Tinajero has been instrumental in developing and leading innovative community investment initiatives that have advanced housing, climate resilience and equitable economic development efforts across the country. Prior to joining CCI, Carrillo Tinajero worked in housing, health and community development policy in Oregon. In this Q&A, learn more about Carrillo Tinajero, what drives his work and his vision for the future of CCI.

Q: Tell us about yourself – what in your personal and professional life shaped who you are today and as a leader?

A: When I moved back to Los Angeles after more than a decade away, I was struck by all the ways the city had shaped me. When you grow up in L.A., a city defined at once by immense natural beauty and the production of artifice, you inherently understand that we structure our built environment according to entrenched arrangements of power, culture and ideas. This has been especially evident in the past month when parts of our city were literally burning down.

As a teenager, I would take buses down Sunset and Wilshire Boulevard through fancy places like Brentwood and Beverly Hills to Koreatown and ultimately East L.A. How could I not sense that there was something fundamentally amiss in the way my city was arranged and continuously rearranged? How could I not understand that these arrangements differently valued my community east of the river? How could I not see that this had clear implications for my family, my friends and my neighbors?

My life’s work has been a quest to understand, disrupt and support the creation of alternatives to the political, cultural and ideological arrangements that have shaped – and continue to shape – our built environment. I started my career in policy and advocacy, then worked on housing and transportation projects with a planning consulting firm. This led me to CCI, where I have been able to bridge these experiences and continue a practice of seeing systems and identifying leverage points for transformation.

Over the past eight years, I’ve learned the importance of fostering relationships grounded in mutual respect and shared accountability across the community development field. This experience has reinforced my commitment to community self-determination and to finding alternative, innovative solutions that will enable our families, friends and communities across this country to achieve the same outcomes, wherever they are.

Q: What is your vision for CCI and the communities it serves?

A: I want leaders and ecosystems in communities that have experienced racism and marginalization in the United States to have the knowledge, support and inspiration they need to use community investment to advance their own transformative priorities.

I want CCI to continue and expand our comprehensive support for leaders committed to systems change, community self-determination and equitable investment. As we work with leaders and communities to experiment with and adapt CCI’s approach to their local situations and needs, I hope we can help birth new arrangements that produce equitable and sustainable results.

Q: What programs and areas excite you most?

A: We are fortunate to work on a lot of exciting initiatives. A few that stand out right now are:

• Supporting community-determined development: Exploring ways for communities to lead their own development processes to ensure that investments reflect their values and aspirations, especially as we adjust to a shifting ecological reality.
• Embedding relational and systems perspectives across community investment leadership development: Equipping leaders with the skills and mindsets that will enable them to bring their full selves to their professional roles, prioritize relational accountability and collective well-being, and navigate complex contexts and systems.
• Rearranging investment practices: Supporting practitioners who are challenging traditional financing models and promoting flexible, creative investment and governance strategies to advance community priorities.

Q: In the landscape of community investment, what are some of the trends that you’re seeing? Challenges and opportunities?

I hope we continue to see more of the following:

• Shifts to community control: There’s a growing recognition of the limitations of traditional top-down approaches and the importance of community governance and control in development and investment.
• Flexible financing models: We are seeing the emergence and increasing adoption of financing strategies that prioritize impact over scale, allowing for more tailored and context-specific solutions.
• Emphasis on relational ways of working: Funders and communities are moving away from transactional relationships, embracing networked approaches of working together, and focusing on building trust and reciprocity.

The challenges are plentiful, from continuing to shift our relationship to the planet and the natural world to disrupting arrangements of power and culture at multiple levels. But I believe in our commitment to continuing to work together to make these foundational shifts rather than simply treating the symptoms of our current arrangements.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about you or your work?

A: I aim to lead CCI with humility, curiosity and a commitment to collective learning. I want us not only to keep asking “What are the most important things we need to be doing right now?” but also “How do we show up?” and “Who are we accountable to?”